Monday, 24 February 2014

If you're like me then you'll know what it's like wandering up and down the beauty section of a store with countless swatches of red lipstick staining your inner arm. Most of us are looking for that perfect red; not too bright, not too dark, matte, glossy, does it make my teeth look yellow? Well fear not, I am hoping to come to your rescue by showing you my favourite red lipsticks with different undertones!

Rimmel Lasting Finish Lipstick in 166 Temptation
I would say this is a true red lipstick, even though it has a slight blue base to it. It has a smooth formula and lasted on me for about 4 hours. This colour would be perfect for any skin tone and with the blue base, it does tend to make your teeth look whiter than they are.

Revlon Colorburst Lipstick in 090 True Red
Even though it's called True Red, which should suit everyone, I found it didn't look that great on me. I think someone who is more tanned than me, which face it, it's about 99% of the human race, it would look fantastic. It has more of an orange base which do tend to suit people with a warm undertone to their skin.

Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate Lipstick in 107
This would have to be my favourite lipstick! This is the perfect red for me. It's deep and has a strong blue tone which is great for my pale cool toned skin. Also it makes my teeth look whiter! This has amazing lasting power to get you through the night without the need for constantly checking your mirror. It's more of a berry shade which is great for Winter but honestly, I wear it all year round.

Sportsgirl Pout About It in Almost Famous
This red has more of an orange tone, so it would suit people with a warm undertone better but I still love it. It's such a vivid red, perfect for summer days and nights. This is a matte formula that lasts a while. Sportsgirl does a great range of lipsticks for about $10 each, so I suggest you go check some out because they're such great quality for a bargain price.

Red lip tips and tricks;
- Prep the lip before you put on makeup by using a lip scrub and some lip balm. This ensures a smooth base for applying your lippy.
- Use a lip pencil to help the colour last longer and to stop potential running outside of your lips.
- To make sure you don't get any on your teeth, stick your (clean!) finger in your mouth, purse your lips around it then pull it out. This will remove any excess lippy and your teeth will be red-free!
- For extra staying power, dust a transparent powder lightly between layers of your lipstick.

Thursday, 20 February 2014

Ah BB Creams, the previous bane of my existence. With ridiculously oily skin, I could never find a BB Cream which didn't make my face turn into a oil slick. But in the past year I have come across two that almost work with my kind of skin, these are the Garnier BB Cream for Combination to Oily Skin and M.A.C Prep + Prime Beauty Balm SPF 35. I've been using both for over 3 months so I'm going to tally up the pros and cons to help you decide on a BB Cream for oily skin.

TOP: M.A.C BOTTOM: Garnier

M.A.C Prep + Prime Beauty Balm SPF 35
I got recommend this by a MUA at M.A.C when I was looking for a light foundation for oily skin in summer. I was a bit skeptical because I haven't had a good time with other BB Creams but I took her advice because I thought she must know how it works. This has a very thick consistency as you can tell with the picture compared to the Garnier. Smell doesn't really matter but it kind of smells like Play-doh which I don't really mind. It's a little difficult to blend in and does come out a bit streaky. Throughout the day it tends to move around on my face which isn't good because I also set it with powder. It gathers around the sides of my nose which is really annoying. However, compared to other BB Creams this has a bigger shade range, 9 shades in total which is good for people who don't suit drugstore BB Creams. I got the shade Light Plus which I'm still not sure if it's the right colour for me. It's $42 for 40ml which is pretty expensive for a BB Cream. To sum it up, I don't think I like this BB Cream very much.

Garnier BB Cream for Combination and Oily Skin
I've had this for a while and I hated it, so I stopped using it. It oxidised my skin turing me into a oompaloompa. But I realised this was because I was using a coloured loose powder on top so I decided to give it another go. This is very liquidy, so be careful when opening it as it can just flow out without squeezing the bottle. I'm not sure what it smells like but it doesn't bother me at all. It's super easy to blend in because for it's consistency. I thick the best brush for this is the Real Techniques Expert Face Brush. I don't find that it moves throughout the day which is fantastic! I always set it with a translucent powder but my face can get a tad oily during the day but that happens with any foundation I use so I always look past that and touch up during the day. This one only comes in 2 shades, and I use Light. I think this is a tad too dark for my skin but I make sure to blend it down my neck so i don't get an obvious line. The coverage with this is fantastic for a BB Cream! I find it settles into the skin really well after an hour and your face looks almost flawless. It's $13.99 for 40ml, which I find is a real steal for the quality of this!

To sum it up, I think the Garnier looks and feels a lot better on my oily skin. The M.A.C has a better shade range though, so if they combined it would be the perfect BB Cream. At the end of the day, everyone has a different reaction to products so find one that you think best suits your skin tone and always try to try it out before buying.

Monday, 3 February 2014

I have decided to run an idea by you - Music Monday! This is probably the least original idea but it's the best I could do! I love music and everything about it. I'm currently studying Classical Music at Uni which is great fun. I've picked the first Monday of every month to share all my music loves with you. It might be a playlist, an album review or music news. I hope you like this idea, let me know if you do in the comments!

Anyway, today's is a summer playlist. As I live in the Southern hemisphere, it's coming to the business end of Summer; the ridiculously hot days and nights! But to celebrate it, here are some of my favourite songs that remind me of this hot season! Enjoy!